The unlikely album that soundtracked Nas’ “hustler days”
Nas’ career had humble beginnings. Like many rappers, he began as an aspiring young man who loved music. As a self-proclaimed “hustler,” Nas (real name Nasir Jones) had to make ends meet as a teenager in all sorts of ways, legal and illegal.
The Queensbridge neighbourhood Jones grew up in was infamous for its deprivation in the 1990s, and the New York area produced many great talents such as Havoc, Prodigy, Cormega, Marly Marl and more.
However, it was Nas who really put the neighbourhood on the map. Before he became a rapper, Nas was hustling and recording demos. In 1992, before he was a mainstream name, Jones was managed by MC Serch, who was the individual presenting labels with demos.
Unfortunately, before he secured a deal with Columbia Records, industry heads refused to sign him as his sound was too reminiscent of other acts out at the time. From Kool G Rap to Rakim, Nas was compared to many artists before fame, but while he was getting doors slammed in his face, he was still hustling.
That said, during a 2012 interview with Complex magazine, Nas looked back at his pre-fame life, named some of the albums he was listening to on a regular basis, and reflected on their impact on his life.
Beginning with some soul music, Jones admitted that he regularly listened to Marvin Gaye’s 1978 album Here, My Dear. Speaking about his first experience listening to it, Jones unveiled, “When I first heard it, no one I knew ever heard it. It’s funny that so many people love Marvin Gaye but never knew about this album that was so personal. It’s crazy how my new record has a little bit of that. Motown only put out limited copies, and it was a risky record.”
Jones admitted he enjoyed the way that Gaye spoke about love and relationships, continuing, “It made me like him a lot more because he was an artist enough to just say what he had to say. I like when he’s talking about Anna Gordy, who he was married to. I really related to that record.”
Nas then spoke about his first experience with rap music and cited Run-DMC’s 1985 album King Of Rock as his introduction to hip-hop, explaining, “That’s one of the first rap albums. The commercial success with a different sound—it had rock, they were of a next phase, next plateau from the Furious Five and the Treacherous Three.”
He added, “And then Raising Hell showed how they evolved as hip-hop superstars. The greatest moment of my life being a rap fan was probably when King of Rock came out. They were the next thing, so they personified the next thing.”
However, he quickly pivoted to his hustling days and, strangely unveiled that his soundtrack was the 1986 Anita Baker album Rapture. Looking back at his days on the street, Jones detailed, “It’s just amazing. Rapture was just around the time of my little hustler days. Not just me as a hustler, but everyone around me was a hustler. If you had a girl back in those days, what she was singing to you made you really appreciate that girl and made you understand the love that you had with for each other when you listen to her.”
Nas beautifully concluded, “It made you wonder if you really liked that person because the love she’s singing about is not what you have for this person. She was a guide to love during that time.”
You can listen to Rapture below.